State of Confusion (Doctor Who Fanfic)

Chapter Twelve - Displaced Memories

CHAPTER TWELVE

Displaced Memories

Rose had lost track of just how long it had been.  Maybe minutes, maybe days.  Lost in a swirl of memories - some of which she didn't even remember happening - she watched in amazement.

"Do you even know what you're trying to find?" she asked.

"Not specifically," the Doctor answered.  "I'm just looking for things that don't fit."

"What do you mean?  What sort of things?"

"Things like..."  He left the sentence hanging for a long moment as the image suddenly stopped at the entrance to a cave.  "Like that."

It wasn't a cave she recognized, particularly.  Maybe a mine?  But there was nothing about it that looked unusual.  It was just rock and dirt and darkness inside. She frowned as she studied it.  "What's special about that?"

"That," he said authoritatively, "is the planet Alzarius.  And you have never been there.  It's not even in this universe, it's in E-Space."

"E-Space?  What's that?"

"The exo-space time continuum.  It's sort of a parallel universe that can only be accessed through a CVE."

"And what's a CVE?"

"Charge Vacuum Emboitment.  Very rare.  It's an anomaly in the structure of space.  Like a glitch in the system.  See the boy in the tree?"

Startled by the sudden shift in topic, she concentrated again on the vision in front of her.  "What boy in which tree?"

"Turn around."

"How?"

"Just imagine yourself turning. It's not hard."

Slowly, she tried it and was surprised to find that it was actually very easy.  "Oh, wow."

He laughed softly.  "See him now?"

She scanned the trees in the dense overgrowth that looked very much like a forest - maybe better, a jungle - on Earth.  Finally, she noticed him.  No older than thirteen with hair long enough to hang over his ears, dressed in rugged-looking, pale yellow and green clothes.

"Who is he?"

"His name is Adric.  I travelled with him for a couple years."

"Whatever happened to him?"

"He..."  The Doctor paused.  Too long.  "Left.  But this was his home planet.  Just before I met him, by the look of it."

"So it's not in my head if I've never seen it.  It's the Tardis?"

"It is in your head.  It's a dream you had.  But it's a dream she gave you.  You couldn't have come up with that on your own; it's too accurate."

"What does it mean?"

"Not sure yet."

He let the image fade, sifting now through thoughts and memories - dreams? - that seemed completely nonsensical.  It felt like she had just run up to a railway crossing and a train was speeding past. Memories that weren't hers flooded through her mind, and for some reason she found them familiar. Planets, people, sounds, even smells she didn't recognize. How had she forgotten this much?

"And thatis definitely not from you."  The changing pictures stopped on an image of a white haired man walking down a dimly lit street. "Do you recognize him?"

She studied the image for a moment before answering. "No.  I don't think so."

"Look harder."

She tried to focus, tried to ignore everything else about the mental image and put all of her attention on the man.  As he passed through the shadows, she watched every move.  "Should I know him?"